SEC Leaders Debate Current Issues In Shareholder Engagement

SEC Chair Jay Clayton, SEC Commissioner Kara Stein and other SEC officials and industry leaders shared perspectives on developing challenges and opportunities in shareholder engagement. In a SEC-NYU Dialogue on Shareholder Engagement in New York, panelists debated the current state of shareholder governance and the roles of key stakeholders in an evolving corporate landscape.

Chair Clayton focused on activist investors and their market influence. He questioned the impact activist investors have had on public markets, and how investment funds and the interests of their fiduciaries fit into the ongoing debate on corporate governance. Chair Clayton offered some perspective on the nuances associated with a governance structure that depends on autonomous interests working collectively through investment vehicles. He stated that market participants should be mindful of the greater impact institutional actions have on all investors, given the fiduciary duties that arise out